One hundred fifty years after Victor Hugo wrote the novel Les Misérables, the poignant saga of Jean Valjean has become one of the world’s most popular musicals and is one of the must-see films of 2013.

Les Misérables: From Stage to Screen (Applause Books, $45, April 2013) by Benedict Nightingale and Martyn Palmer follows the genesis of the musical from conception, through trials and tribulations, to the thrilling musical extravaganza that has been seen by more than 55 million theatre-goers, and finally to the newest incarnation on screen starring Hugh Jackman and Russell Crowe. To flesh out the story, the book includes fifteen removable facsimiles that highlight key moments in the creation of both the stage musical and the film, including original costume sketches, annotated scripts, original music scores and librettos, screenplay extracts, and anniversary mementos.

The book gives the background on Victor Hugo and the France he lived in. We are guided through the story of how Cameron Mackintosh was given the French concept album of Les Mis in 1982 and how he became the musical’s first producer. We see how it was sharpened and clarified for English-speaking audiences in London and New York, and eventually adapted across the globe and for schools. The book even devotes whole chapters to significant characters like Valjean, Javert, Thénardier, Fantine, and others. Bringing the book up to date, it includes Mackintosh’s new orchestration and staging for the 2006 Broadway revival and The King’s Speech director Tom Hooper’s challenge of turning the world’s longest running stage musical into a daringly different cinematic experience.

Les Misérables: From Stage to Screen is the complete 35-year rollercoaster journey of Boublil and Schonberg’s musical masterpiece, a fairy tale in its own right with a happy ending.